Syro-Malankara Catholic Church

Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
Emblem of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
Founder	St. Thomas (AD 52)
Reunion	1930 :separated from Malankara Orthodox Church
Recognition	Eastern Catholic
First head	Geevarghese Ivanios
Current Head	Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal
Episcopal see	Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Territory	Thiruvananthapuram
Language	Syriac, Malayalam, Tamil, English, Hindi
Liturgy	Malankara Rite
Members	450,553
Bishops	14
Priests	546
Parishes	692
Nuns	1742
Scriptures	Bible (based on Peshitta)

The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with Catholic Church and with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope. It is one of the 23 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in the Catholic communion. It is a Major Archiepiscopal Church headed by a Major Archbishop. The current Major Archbishop is Baselios Cleemis, who was elected in 2007. The church follows the West Syrian Rite liturgy, which is also used in the Maronite and Syriac Catholic Church.

The Church is one of the Saint Thomas Christian churches centered in Kerala, India, which trace their origin to the evangelism of Saint Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. It is one of two Saint Thomas Christian churches in the Catholic communion, the other being the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. It was established on 20 September 1930 as a result of the re-union movement, when it split from the Malankara Church and entered into communion with the Catholic Church. The Syro-Malabar Church itself had emerged from the split within the Saint Thomas Christian community or Malankara Church of the 16th century. The St Thomas Christians who remained independent continued to be known as the Malankara Church. However, the collapse of that church and influence from the Portuguese, who tried to bring them under the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, led to a rift in the community. Eventually, one faction entered into communion with the Catholic Church known as the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church from 1923 AD, while the rest continued the succession of native church, the Malankara Church and aligned with the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church. This latter group became gradually closer to the Syrian Orthodox church leading to a series of splits concerning the extent to which the Patriarch would be given authority.